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Optical antennas are able to concentrate light on a scale much smaller then the wavelength. By using the probe of an atomic force microscope, it is possible to manipulate a so-called bow-tie antenna, thereby tuning its optical response.
Two-photon emission has now been observed from an electrically pumped semiconductor. The process, which involves the simultaneous generation of correlated photons, could have important implications for quantum information technology.
How black is black? An ideally black material would absorb light perfectly at all angles for all wavelengths. Using arrays of carbon nanotubes, researchers based in New York have now engineered a metamaterial that constitutes the darkest material ever made.
The use of inorganic charge transport layers has enabled the fabrication of bright, environmentally stable LEDs that are based on electrically pumped colloidal solutions of quantum dots.
Optical antennas have already been shown to dramatically enhance molecular excitation and emission processes. Now, a compelling new study illustrates how they can redirect the emission of single molecules.
Interactions between laser and matter are fascinating and have found a wide range of applications. This article gives an overview of the fundamental physical mechanisms in the processing of transparent materials using ultrafast lasers, as well as important emerging applications of the technology.
After almost 50 years of laser research, efficient and compact laser sources operating in the mid-infrared region from 2 μm to 5 μm are still lacking. Now, cascaded silicon Raman lasers look set to provide a convenient answer.
A holographic microscope that can capture fluorescent images of three-dimensional specimens without the need for axial scanning looks set to bring benefits to biomedical imaging.
A strongly nonlinear photonic crystal with a wavelength-tunable bandgap could provide the solution to realizing all-optical switches for signal processing.
Subwavelength holes in metal films are well known to offer extraordinary-light-transmission properties. Now a group of scientists in France have exploited such nanoholes to sort photons by colour.
By structuring the surface of a metal with an array of holes, photonics researchers show that it is possible to tightly confine terahertz surface waves, reducing their decay length into air by two orders of magnitude. The results could lead to new approaches to waveguiding.
The demonstration of a laboratory-scale, fully coherent extreme-UV laser opens up a whole plethora of applications in ultrashort-wavelength imaging, microscopy and the probing of matter.
Non-reciprocal optical phenomena — effects that depend on the direction of light propagation — are rare. Researchers have now observed non-reciprocal material modification when moving a beam of ultrashort light pulses through a lithium niobate crystal.
Diffuse scattering can prevent high-resolution imaging in thick biological media. Researchers have now shown that such scattering can be completely cancelled by optical phase conjugation, opening the path to a new generation of medical imaging techniques.
An optoelectronic method for sorting nanowires of different compositions and assembling them into reconfigurable arrays could be important for creating future nanodevices.
Chains of coupled resonators are capable of dramatically slowing the speed of light. When all the resonators are identical light can, in principle, be stopped altogether. However, disorder causes light to move at a finite speed and to be localized over a few resonators.
